But in our original prototype, the city was actually much more compartmentalised - a series of small, contained regions connected by teleporters. And so it remained until midway into developing the city, when we decided to make some major changes.
"[Swen] said, like, can't we just connect everything?" reminisces World Building Director Farhang Namdar. "And that was an interesting day."
What's come out of that decision is something we’re very proud of. The districts of Baldur's Gate are now three seamless open worlds. No matter whether you’re investigating underground crypts, climbing the stairs of a towering citadel, or descending into hidden cellars, open-ended exploration reigns supreme. No longer are they broken up into much smaller chunks. This - though ambitious - means that we were finally able to achieve that grand sense of hustle and bustle, where all the stories within the city were truly interconnected. There’s plenty to discover, and to be distracted by, and nothing is off-limits. We wanted every house to have real characters who had stories, and who could offer quests with secrets to uncover.
